EFate: An MMO Story Chapter 46: Lichfrost Fores

As the party entered the northern forest, a system message appeared in front of Eric;

"Warning: Lichfrost Forest is a dangerous zone for adventurers. Many monsters stalk these woods. Solo players are advised not to enter. Recommended Party Size: 10"

"That doesn't seem too promising," commented Eric, dismissing the system message as he did so.

"You guys want to turn back? We could keep hunting goblin scouts in the forest," Turk suggested. Aria shook her head, "We're already here. I say we keep going. As long as we don't take stupid fights, the three of us should be able to survive."

"We are pretty high level compared to other players. It might be worth continuing, but I'll leave the choice of whether or not to continue up to you two," Eric supplied, leaning against a nearby tree.

Turk sighed, "It took us this long to get here. Let's just move forward. But if it gets dangerous we'll retreat. No point dying needlessly."

Nodding their agreement, Eric and Aria followed Turk deeper into the forest, the light from the barren strip of land slowly disappearing behind them as they pressed on.

Lichfrost Forest was darker than Stillwood Forest, with tall conifer trees crowding together, blotting out the sunlight with their dense branches. The few pale wisps of sunlight that did reach the forest floor were greedily sucked up by the many mosses and lichens that carpeted the surrounding rocks and vegetation, giving the entire forest an eerie blurred look - as though it was a painting that had been hit with water, blurring the lines and coating everything with a furry green hue.

Ducking underneath a low hanging branch, Turk suddenly froze, kneeling gently behind a nearby rock and waving at the two behind him to do the same.

"Goblins, up ahead," he mouthed. Peeking out from behind the rock, Eric was confronted by the sight of a group of goblins roughly forty meters in front of them. The goblins were walking along a well worn path, with relaxed looks upon their ugly green faces, and a soft chittering as they talked amongst themselves. At their current pace, it wouldn't be more than a minute before they pa.s.sed the rock the trio was hiding behind.

"Fight?" whispered Eric. Aria nodded, gripping her staff tightly. Turk looked pensive, peeking out to check on the goblins progress. They were now less than thirty meters away, coming closer and closer to their hiding spot. The rock wasn't too far away from the path, the goblins would be pa.s.sing within seven meters of the group.

With a nod, Turk drew his sword, taking care not to make any noise as he did so, "Get ready," he mouthed. Eric nodded, opting to prepare a Wind Blade rather than risk making any noise nocking an arrow to his bow. Aria followed his example, a watery glow surrounding the end of her staff as she completed the runes for her signature spell.

As the goblins approached the groups hiding spot, the trio exploded into action. Eric and Turk were the first two to jump out, Eric firing his Wind Blade at such an angle that it hit three goblins, sending the creatures sprawling, their healthbars diminishing by almost forty percent each from his spell. Turk charged towards the lead goblin, a slightly larger fellow whose saber was halfway drawn when his face became acquainted with the fighter's shield. With a high-pitched cry, the goblin was sent flying backwards, smashing into some bushes along the side of the path.

The remaining goblin made to charge at Turk but was instead intercepted by Aria's water dart, the spell crashing into the poor creature's left breast. With a moan, the goblin was spun around viciously, its momentum halted by the water dart. Fortunately for the monster, its suffering did not last long as Turk's sword stabbed into its neck, its bright red blood staining its discoloured jerkin even further as it choked upon the man's blade. Withdrawing his blade, Turk watched as the goblin's healthbar disappeared, the creature falling dead to the forest floor. Satisfied that it was indeed dead, Turk charged towards the three goblins that Eric had hit with his wind blade. With angry chwiiting sounds, the goblins responded to his charge, having drawn their sabers as they got back to their feet.

Using dashing cut, Eric charged in to a.s.sist Turk, his sword drawing an arc in midair as he hacked at a goblin's head. Ducking underneath his swing, the goblin approached, its saber cutting into his side. Wincing, Eric cast the arcane strike he'd prepared, the violet bolt slamming into the unprepared goblins face. Lunging forward, Eric used a palm strike to send the goblin bowling back into the third goblin which was attempting to flank Turk, sending the two sprawling to the hard dirt below.

While Turk and Eric dealt with the three goblins, the fourth that Turk had sent flying recovered. Seeing that its companions had engaged the two fighters, the goblin dashed across the path, creeping up on Aria as she prepared a second water dart and looked for a target from on top of the rock the party had been hiding behind. Approaching from her blindspot behind a nearby tree, the goblin leapt at the mage, his saber hacking at her as the two fell from atop the rock Aria had been standing on, entangled together in a heap of cloth, skin, and fangs.

Firing the water dart wildly, Aria's spell went soaring into the air, narrowly missing Eric as it soared into the trees above. Swearing violently, Eric abandoned his plan to pounce on the two goblins he'd tied up a moment ago, whirling around to see what Aria was playing at. Seeing the situation, his eyes widened, "Turk, deal with these three!" he shouted, activating dashing cut as he did so.

With a confused look, Turk turned to see where his companion was headed off to, his eyes similarly widening as he saw Aria struggling with a goblin. Bashing his opponent with his shield, Turk attempted to follow Eric, but the other two goblins leapt in front of him, forcing him to abandon this plan. Gritting his teeth, the fighter exploded into a frenzy of movement, his sword flashing multiple times as he pressed down upon his original opponent - its healthbar flashing red as it blocked his strikes.

Reaching Aria, Eric's foot lashed out in a soccer kick, slamming into the goblin's head and sending it tumbling off of the mage. With a loud crack, the goblin's head slammed into a rock jutting up from the path, an enormous part of its healthbar disappearing as a small stunned status symbol appeared next to it. Jumping to her feet, Aria raised her staff high above her head and brought it down upon the unfortunate goblin's head like a miner's pickaxe. Wincing, Eric watched as the poor goblin suffered the vengeful mage's a.s.sault, its healthbar having long since disappeared. Turning back to the still ongoing fight, it was obvious that Turk was suffering. The three goblins were covering for each properly, receiving blows meant for each other on their sabers and forcing the fighter to rely heavily on his shield to defend. As Eric watched, one goblin attacked with an overhead strike, forcing to Turk to raise his shield to receive it. As he did so, the other two goblins attacked from below, striking his exposed thighs with their sabers.

Dashing towards the goblins, Eric leapt high into the air, bringing his sword down in a two-handed slash towards one of the two goblins. With a satisfying chunk sound, the sword embedded deeply into the skull of the goblin. Staggering slightly, the goblin's healthbar rapidly drained, the goblin collapsing beside its companion who roared angrily, swiping at Eric whose sword was still embedded in its friend's skull.

Leaving his sword in the skull of the dead goblin, Eric jumped backwards, receiving a minor scratch from the goblin's saber as it whistled past his thigh. His right hand now free, Eric began to create the runes for Wind Blade, his right leg launching a roundhouse kick at the goblin charging desperately towards him in an attempt to interrupt the casting. Knocking the goblin off balance, Eric completed the spell, not hesitating at all to fire the wind blade directly at the goblin.

With a loud cry, the goblin collapsed, the wind blade having hit it head on leaving an enormous cut that ran along the monster's entire left side. Retrieving his sword from the other goblin's skull, Eric headed towards Turk, only to watch as he used his shield to cave the remaining goblin's skull in.

With that, the path was silent once more, with only the sounds of panting as the trio leaned on their weapons.

"Well that was intense," remarked Eric dryly.

Turk nodded, "These goblins felt stronger than the group from before, or those pairs of scouts in Stillwood forest."

"They were bigger too," Aria chimed in.

"Really?" Eric asked, looking at the dead goblins scattered around the path.

"Yup. The ones earlier only came up to my chest. They weren't more than about three and a half or at most four feet tall. These ones come almost up to my neck. They're closer to five feet tall," she explained.

Turk kicked the corpse of his opponent, "Yeah these guys were able to aim at my head way easier than the ones we fought before. That's why I was forced on the defensive so easily."

"We should probably loot these guys, hide the bodies and move on. I don't want to stay in one place for too long," said Eric, receiving agreeing nods from the other two. Getting to work, the trio quickly looted the five corpses, rolling the bodies into a small ditch a few meters from the path before continuing on.